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The Pistons gather at center court after their 117-77 win over Phoenix on Wednesday at the Palace. / JULIAN H. GONZALEZ/Detroit Free Press

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It's time the Pistons brought the old Palace upper-deck tarp used for those sparse Detroit Shock basketball crowds out of mothballs. They limited the seating during those WNBA games to avoid the visual embarrassment of vast sections of seats during home games occupied only by fidgety crickets.

The attendance Wednesday night was so meager, the handful of people in the upper deck no doubt heard Pistons coach Lawrence Frank scream "pistol" for a specific offensive set so clearly that their first impulse was probably to hit the deck out of fear.

How much longer can this franchise keep fooling itself into believing that it can independently exist 30 miles away from this sports community's epicenter -- downtown Detroit?

The Pistons won their fourth straight home game Wednesday, thoroughly dismantling Phoenix in a 117-77 romp that was pretty much decided midway through the third quarter.

They've got some intriguing young pieces.

Kyle Singler would have a good WAR.

In this new age of highly localized performance metrics, Singler's going to be one of those guys praised for doing a lot of things well rather than excelling in one particular area. He was traffic cop, hands waving and decibels rising on both ends of the floor, making sure the Pistons were positioned properly. He's a stabilizing influence in the half-court offense, rarely standing still.

Brandon Knight's looking more comfortable and, given the appropriate time, rookie center Andre Drummond looks as though he'll eventually become a commanding force in the middle.

The Pistons are doing what's necessary in building a team people will take seriously. It's just too bad that they can't get anybody into the building to watch the process.

They announced the attendance at 10,517. Nice try, Pistons. Maybe 3,000 bothered showing up. They're the only team in the NBA this season that's filling less than 60% of its arena. Their overall average attendance is the second lowest in the league.

The allure's gone. Every home game with three quarters of the Palace empty represents another harsh reminder that the Pistons must get out of there and return to downtown Detroit in a shared new arena arrangement with the Red Wings as quickly as possible.

Why would playing downtown make any difference?

It's about habit. It's about familiarity. The market the Pistons court is now more comfortable spending their time and disposable entertainment dollars downtown than they were 20 years ago -- even if Auburn Hills is a closer destination.

And it also can't be forgotten that it's no longer economically viable in Detroit for four professional sports teams to thrive in four separate facilities. The corporate support simply isn't there.

Their record doesn't reflect it, but the team's getting better. There are glimpses of future promise. But if nobody's watching, how can anyone tell?